Chapter 2: I Vant to Vatch Your Vlog
4. As you know by now, vlogs can take up a lot of space. Use the Update field to select how many episodes you want to update on your iPod
•All episodes:All vlog entries downloaded from that videoblog will be copied to your iPod.
•Only checked episodes:All entries that have a check mark next to them in the iTunes library will be copied to your iPod (shown in Figure 2-23).
•Only most recent episode: Only the very most recent vlog entry will be copied to your iPod.
•Only unplayed episodes:Only vlog entries that you haven’t played yet will be copied. If you play an episode on your iPod, it will be marked played in iTunes and will be removed from your iPod. If you don’t want your iPod to fill up with video, use this setting.
Figure 2-22:
The iPod dialog box lets you set up your iPod.
The Videos tab lets you specify which video playlists to sync with your iPod.
You only need to use this if you copy videos directly to your iPod without subscribing to them via iTunes.
If you have videos on your hard drive that you want to copy to your iPod with- out subscribing to a videoblog, just drag them onto the Library in iTunes and drop them. Don’t drag them to the Videos category in the Source list; dragging them to the Library will add them to the Videos category automatically. You can then add them to playlists — just like any song in your collection.
Converting videos for the iPod
The iPod has a trimmed-down version of QuickTime on it, so you can play QuickTime movies on it — provided the movies fit into the iPod’s limitations on size and quality.
If you use the instructions in Chapter 12 for creating your videoblog in MPEG-4 format, your vlog entries will already be iPod-ready!
Using your iPod to play video on your TV
To connect a video device to your TV, it needs three cables — two for audio, and one for video. The iPod has only one plug. Fortunately, Apple makes an Figure 2-23:
Checking a vlog entry marks it as checked for purposes of updating your iPod.
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Chapter 2: I Vant to Vatch Your Vlog
inexpensive cable to plug your iPod into your TV (under $20 at the time of writing this book), and other manufacturers are following suit. The cable is shown in Figure 2-24.
The AV cable is a three-plug RCA connector. If your TV only has an S-Video input, you’ll need an RCA-to-S-Video adapter, which, like most of these AV adapters, you can buy at your local Radio Shack or other electronics store.
You can also plug the universal dock into the TV and use it (and the optional remote controller) to watch movies on the TV. However, the universal dock is more expensive than the cable, and you’ll still need the AV cable to get the universal dock to connect to your TV. It’s not a bad setup if you want to have your iPod play all your videos on the TV, but the total price tag for the dock, cables, and remote is almost $90.
Playing videoblogs on other mobile media players, cellphones, and PDAs
Believe it or not, the iPod was not the first portable device that could play videoblogs. The PlayStation Portable (PSP) has long been able to play video away from home, and some cellphones can send and receive short video clips using multimedia messaging. Videobloggers even use a PocketPC device with a specialized RSS reader (FeederReader) to take their movies on the go.
Figure 2-24:
The Apple AV iPod cable connects your iPod to the TV.
Using a PlayStation Portable
The PSP is a nifty device with lots of features — most of which are designed for playing videogames and DVDs away from home. However, videobloggers have an array of tools for putting vlog entries onto a PSP.
For Windows, there’s PSP Video 9 and Videora (www.pspvideo9.com), as shown in Figure 2-25. Videora enables you to set up RSS feeds and convert video to the right format for transferring to your PSP device.
For the Mac, use PSPWare (www.nullriver.com) to convert your vlog entries to PSP format. If you use FireANT to download your videos, you can drag and drop them from the FireANT Downloads directory straight into the PSPWare window, as shown in Figure 2-26.
Using FeederReader on the PocketPC
Just when you might be wondering when you might find another “by the vloggers for the vloggers” application, this time for mobile devices, along comes FeederReader for the Pocket PC. It’s a video-enabled RSS reader for Pocket PC (Windows Mobile) devices such as handhelds and SmartPhones — written by Greg Smith, who is also a videoblogger.
Figure 2-25:
PSP Video 9 with Videora lets you set up RSS feeds for download and conversion to PSP format.
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FeederReader comes as a CAB file, which you copy to the mobile device and install as usual. Once it’s installed, click its icon to launch it. (See Figure 2-27.) You’ll be prompted to set up FeederReader with some default RSS feeds.
Figure 2-27:
Feeder Reader’s interface.
Figure 2-26:
PSPWare converts and syncs videos to your PSP.
From the interface, there are two main panels. The top panel shows the feeds you’re subscribed to; the bottom panel shows the current entry. You can click the Notepad icon near the bottom to hide the feeds when you watch vlogs.
To subscribe to a feed, click the Tools menu and select Add RSS Feed. You’ll have to enter the feed manually, so pay attention for any typos. When you have the feed added, follow these steps: